Moving on Up: Four Stories That Prove Temp-to-Hire Might Just be the Right Choice for You!

February 2015

The ultimate goal for most job seekers is a long-term career and a permanent home. For that reason, they often ignore temp-to-hire positions when looking to make a change. This choice can be seriously detrimental to the job search. Whether it’s a foot in the door in a temporary position that can lead to a full-time career in another department at the company, or a chance to prove one’s self despite a lack of background in a particular industry, temp-to-hire positions have the potential to carve the path for employees to land their dream jobs. Below are a few of Addison Group’s recent success stories that showcase some of the benefits of accepting a temp-to-hire position.

A Layoff Becomes a Step Up

Addison Group’s Admin/HR team presented a legal assistant who had recently been laid off from her role due to a downsizing with the firm. She was open to temp-to-hire roles, and she was eventually offered both a direct hire opportunity as well as a contract to hire position. The contract to hire role ended up being a great fit for her and within a month of starting the contract position she was hired full time. Her last two jobs had not been the right culture fit – the new position provided not only a significant increase in her base salary but also a great place to continue to grow her career.

Second Time’s a Charm

A recruiter from our Admin team met an executive assistant in a healthcare setting who was looking to move into an executive assistant role at a professional services firm. She mentioned that she was interviewing for a particular role with a company that our team was familiar with—and eventually accepted the position. Our team knew that this would not be the right fit for her based on what she told us she wanted. The recruiter continued to stay in touch with her and within three months she was ready to make a change to a different environment. We were able to place her in a contract to hire role with a global financial services firm. She was hired on full time within two months and finally feels she is in the type of company culture where she can thrive.

A Foot in the Door Leads to a Dream Job

Addison Group met with a candidate who had years of experience in the restaurant industry, but was seeking a long-term career in an office setting. His true passion was for HR, but when he was offered a temp-to-hire position in logistics at a great company, he got on board. Within 9 months he was hired as a temp-to-hire, brought on full-time, and transitioned from logistics into a Talent Coordinator position that was perfectly in line with his long-term career goals!

Transitioning to the 9-5

A candidate with a background strictly in retail and hospitality came to Addison Group seeking a 9-5 position in a business setting. Though initially wary of his lack of corporate experience, our client was impressed with his customer service presence and professionalism during the interview and decided to hire him. He quickly proved himself in the role and was brought on in a full-time capacity—with a salary, benefits, and regular weekday hours.

There are many paths to the perfect career, and as these stories show, you don’t need to land a permanent position right off the bat in order to find long-term career fulfillment. We encourage employees to maintain an open mind, positive attitude and strong work ethic in a temp-to-hire position, as you just never know what it can result in!

Four Attributes of a Successful Temp-to-Hire Candidate

Punctuality: While this may sound obvious, the importance of being on time and ready to work cannot be stressed enough.

Patience: If you put too much emphasis on when you will be hired full-time, the employer may feel that you aren’t focusing enough on your job. Pay attention on excelling at the task at hand, and the conversation will eventually happen.

Drive: Showing initiative and offering to take on a greater workload when things are slow will prove to the employer that you will be a valuable full-time asset to the company.

Humility: It is great to have confidence in your ability to get the job done, but you should never dictate how things should be done. You are a contractor there to do your job, not tell others how to do theirs.